Blow Me A Kiss
by CSM
Summary: When trying to express oneself, it's frankly quite absurd to leaf through lengthy lexicons to find the perfect word. A little spontaneity keeps conversation keen, You need to find a way to say, precisely what you mean.
1. Chapter 1

**Title : **Blow Me a Kiss

**Author: **CSM

**Summary: **When trying to express oneself, it's frankly quite absurd. To leaf through lengthy lexicons to find the perfect word. A little spontaneity keeps conversation keen, You need to find a way to say, precisely what you mean.

**AN: ** So first Finchel fic in ages, I'm kinda nervous. But I will like to thank my awesome beta tiltingaxis, for helping me with this one shot and just being her usual awesome self :)

* * *

**Blow Me a Kiss**

Rachel slides under the soft plush of the maroon coloured blankets, sighing at the warmth as she snuggles back against the pillow.

"Would you hurry up? You're gonna miss the beginning!" she calls out to Kurt who is currently sitting at his vanity in his bathroom, applying his various moisturisers to his face.

"It's a DVD. I won't miss it unless you press play. Besides, you know that my moisturising routine takes time."

Rachel huffs, about to threaten him she'll start the show without him, when she hears the bathroom door close. Looking across her, she grins and throws back her head dramatically, "Finally!"

"No need to get your animal sweaters in a twist," Kurt comments dryly, as he scoots onto the bed next to her, "Although if you wanted to burn those, I would not object."

Rachel simply sticks her tongue out at him as she presses play; they share a grin as Kurt gets comfortable; both of them consumed by their own thoughts, as the credits begin to roll. That is, until Rachel speaks.

"Hey Kurt, I'm sorry you guys lost." Rachel says quietly, resting her head on his shoulder as she stretches out her legs in front of her, her toes barely even reaching half the length of the bed.

"No you're not." Kurt says with a scoff, but then chuckles, "But thanks. And you guys deserved it. Those two songs were amazing."

Rachel pinks at his words, "They did do a wonderful job of Loser Like Me, didn't they? When I first heard it, I was in awe and completely floored by their talent."

Kurt nods taking a handful of popcorn, " Yes, but I was talking more about your song. Finn said you wrote the entire thing yourself?"

Rachel squirms slightly at the other boy's words, her cheeks once again becoming flush at the thought of Finn praising her work. "Yes after many, _many_ failed attempts at song writing."

Kurt laughs loudly at that, "With the way Finn was going gaga over this song _and _you, we thought you'd wrote it on your first try. He wouldn't shut up about it when we had a family celebratory dinner that night."

"He talked about it?" Rachel asks, trying and failing to hide her curiosity, her entire body now warming at that revelation.

"Yes. Congratulations, you have your first fan," Kurt answers dryly, "In all seriousness, it was amazing really. Although, Finn took praising to another level, it was very well deserved."

Rachel giggles at Kurt's words, his praising not even affecting her, but the giddiness building up in her due to Finn's obvious affections to her song. But she fights the urge to ask Kurt _exactly_ what he said, not wanting to appear too eager to know what Finn exact thoughts on her song were. But her elation is short lived at Kurt's next words.

"Carole actually didn't want you to sleep over. She thought the two of you were back together."

Rachel bites her lip at his words, willing her tears not to fall, "Well you can tell her that it's unnecessary, seeing as Finn is now dating Quinn."

At her words, Kurt begins to cough violently, choking on his popcorn. She slaps his back a few times and, handing him some ice tea, turning to look at him in alarm. "Are you okay?"

"What insanity are you speaking of Berry?" Kurt asks, completely ignoring her question.

Rachel frowns at his question, biting her lip again, "Didn't Finn tell you? They've been dating for quite a while apparently."

"Well that's news to me, and I don't even think our parents even know. She certainly hasn't been hanging around _here_."

The ache in Rachel's heart lessened somewhat, but she just sighs, throwing her head back against the pillow.

"Well I'm sure he will inform your parents at some point. Can we not talk about it anymore? I just...I'm not ready to accept that just yet."

Kurt nods, leaning back to share the pillow with her, "Let's watch Maria leave the abbey."

Rachel giggles at his words and focuses back on the TV, resting her head on his shoulder. They stay in utter silence for the remaining of the scene until Kurt speaks, breaking the silence.

"Blaine kissed me."

Rachel sat up immediately, her eyes wide, her hands to her mouth, "WHAT! At Regionals? When did this happen? And why is it I'm only _now_ hearing about this?"

Before Kurt could, respond there is a soft knock on his bedroom door, and both of them immediately turn to the door just as Carole's head popped in.

"Hey guys, it's getting kind of late can you keep the noise down? Your dad's already sleeping Kurt." Despite her tone, she is smiling warmly at them

"I'm so sorry. Mrs. Hummel," Rachel squeaks in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact with the older woman. To her horror, Carol smiles as she walks into the room.

"That's okay Rachel. I know how you and Kurt can get," she says with a laugh, "I actually wanted to congratulate you."

Rachel looks at her mutely, her eyes widening in surprise, at which Carole chuckles, "I didn't get to see you on Regionals night. But from what I gather you were, 'freaking awesome'? Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you on your win."

Rachel pinks at the older woman's praise, "Thanks Mrs. Hummel."

Carole simply smiles, "Maybe one of these days I'll get to hear you sing it? We've heard so much about this song from the boys, it would be a shame to _not_ hear it."

"I'd be honoured to sing it for you and Mr. Hummel," Rachel says modestly.

"I look forward to it then," Carol says with a smile before she bids them good night.

"Still think she hates you?" Kurt asks in amusement, knowing very well that Rachel's previous reluctance to come to his house, other than the obvious Finn issue, was because she insisted that Carole probably hates her.

"She doesn't know why Finn and I broke up does she?" Rachel asks quietly, as she fiddles with the strap of her tank top. When Kurt doesn't answer, Rachel sniffles softly, wiping the tears threatening to fall.

"I guess it's better she doesn't know," Rachel says quietly. She rubs her eyes a few times and puts on a smile, looking at Kurt who is looking at her alarm.

"Now. Tell me about this kiss you failed to mention!"

Kurt looks at her with concern for two seconds before he breaks out into the widest grin she's ever seen. "Well by now it's more like _kisses_."

"Kurt! " Rachel squeals softly, as she claps her hands, completely turning her body to face him, "Tell me _everything_! Was it as perfect as you'd imagine?"

Kurt sighs dreamily as he leans back against the headboard, grasping his pillow, "_So_ much more. It was soft and gentle, forceful, erotic, mind numbingly perfect all rolled into one."

Rachel giggles at his words, "The _same_ kiss was all those things?"

Kurt grins, ""Okay, so maybe I'm talking about all. Don't judge. Alright, so it was a week before Regionals and we had to practice our duet together when he came to look for me..."

As Kurt goes into details about his first kiss with Blaine, she can't help but think of her own first kiss with Finn, the one untainted by girlfriend dramas or babies. She can remember that day as if it were yesterday, and ironically enough, it was exactly a week before Regionals last year as well. She'd thrown caution out the window and took the fact that she was on the stairs at eye level with Finn to her advantage and just laid one on him. She can't help but smile wistfully as she remembers Finn's dumbfounded facial expression, and she had honestly thought she'd over step some bounds, but then Finn broke out into the largest smile, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her fully against him and pressed his lips against hers yet again. She remembers the feeling of the world lifting off her shoulder, and as cliche as it sounds, her knees going week at how gentle he was, the softness in which he pressed his lips against hers and how he cradled her neck. She shakes her head out of her stupor just in time to hear the tail end of Kurt's words, the flaming red shade his cheeks and neck had taken giving him away anyway as he says they never ended up practicing their duet that night.

Rachel giggles wholeheartedly, more at Kurt's obvious embarrassment than his confession, "Oh I know all about that. There was a reason why I banned Finn and I from practicing our duets at home and _only_ in school with the band."

Kurt looks at her, his eyes widening considerably in an almost scandalize way. "The duets competition?"

Rachel giggles, pinking up slightly as she remembers that particular week and the incident in her bedroom, and why she enforced that rule in the first place. It was a fond memory and thinking about it only makes her smile and well, blush to the tips of toes at what she and Finn got up to. She sighs a little, but shakes her head and realizes that this is supposed to be about Kurt now and if he notices her mood, he wouldn't want to gush further about him and she knows how long he's been waiting for this. So she smiles brightly as she looks up at Kurt.

"Nothing wrong with a little detour," she says, winking at him as they both break out into giggles, "It was a long time coming, and after all this time you know, certain tensions build up and you _must_ release it somehow before you explode."

"Nice play on words Ms. Berry." He frowns slightly in thought, "_Urgh_ I'm around boys too much, I'm starting to think like the horndogs in school."

Rachel's eyes widen as she rethinks her very last words and then she blushes crimson at her euphemism, "I didn't mean it literally...I just meant..."

Kurt is now blushing as well, and pats her arm, "I –ugh. I get what you meant, let's just watch the show."

Neither of them says anything as they both get comfortable to watch their movie, and despite all that time, the show has still barely begun. She'd forgotten how long Sound of Music really was for moment.

0ooooo0

Rachel's eyes open slowly, trying to gauge the noise that woke her up in the first place, but when she's met with silence, she sighs glancing across at Kurt sleeping form and giggling at the loud snore coming from her friend knowing he would never believe her if she told him he snores. She closes her eyes, trying to lull herself back to sleep, but after 10 minutes of wandering thoughts, she's not even close to going back to sleep. She sits up and quietly eases out of the bed, her bare feet hitting the chilled wooden floor, making her gasp softly in surprise.

She stands up looking around for her sweater to throw over her bare shoulders but realizes that it's futile to look for anything in the darkened room. With a shake of her head, she slowly navigates through the room and towards the door, hands fumbling for the door knob in the dark as she cautiously makes her way down the stairs. She feels the heat immediately as she turns the corner, now remembering that Kurt said they usually turn off the lower floor air condition in the night. She's so focused on her thoughts and making her way down the half lit stairs, she almost loses her footing when she sees a lone figure hunched over a coffee mug, his nose practically in the cup. Before she can even consider turning around, before he has chance to notice her, her foot lands on the final step making a loud creaking noise, and sure enough, Finn looks up, startled.

"Hey," she says sheepishly, still frozen in her spot. She's not sure where this nervousness is even coming from, seeing as she and Finn have been somewhat friends for the past few weeks.

He smiles at her sleepily as he rubs his eyes, his small gesture making her heart constrict at how cute he looks with his tousled hair and sleep-laden eyes. When her eyes roam lower, she notices that he's not wearing a shirt. It's then she realizes _why_ this is so uncomfortable. She bites her lip when she sees his eyes quickly roam over her body and she tugs at her shorts, cursing herself for not looking for her sweater.

"Um. I'll just go back." She gestures up the stairs

"Wait...no... Did you come down for something?" Finn asks sheepishly, "I'd offer you some hot cocoa but I used milk. Actually, we have soymilk in the fridge. Do you want me to make you one? Or you know, you can have water or whatever you came for..."

She smiles slightly at his rambles, glad she's not the only one a bit uncomfortable. Taking a seat on the stool opposite him, she smiles, "I'd love some hot cocoa if you don't mind. I can make it myself if you wanted to go back to sleep or..."

"Nah," Finn says, brushing her off as he slips off his stool and walks towards the refrigerator. He glances down at his bare chest and then back at her, his face heating up, but other than that, he says nothing as he grabs the carton of milk. Neither of them says anything as Finn walks around the kitchen, making her hot cocoa. She watches his every move in silence, trying and failing miserably not to focus on the flexing of his back muscles as he moves to grab a mug in the top shelf and begins to mix the milk into the cocoa mix. His sweat pants are riding low on his hips and she can see the bright red band of his boxers peaking out. When she catches herself and what she's doing, her face heats up as she looks away, just as he turns around to face her, smiling at her warmly.

"Here. It's kinda hot."

"Thank you Finn," she says, watching as he places the hot mug on a coaster next to his and to her surprise, he slips back into his seat and faces her.

"So Mom said you and Kurt were having some kind of Julie Andrews marathon?" Finn asks, amused as he takes a sip of his cocoa.

"More like just Sound of Music. I fell asleep halfway through it. If we were watching Mary Poppins, you know I would have told Kurt to invite you."

She can't help but giggle uncontrollably at Finn's horrified expression, even more so when he leans towards her, lowering his voice dramatically as if someone would hear them.

"_Rachel_. You said you'd never tell _anyone,_ especially, _Kurt_ that I liked that movie!"

This time, she doesn't even bother to hold back her amusement and she releases a deep laugh, and she knows he's not really upset because he's grinning just as well, and before she can catch herself, she leans towards him Elbow on her bare knee and chin resting in her palm, she sings in an almost teasing tone.

"_Chim Chimney Chim Chimeny, Chim Chim Cher-ree."_

She bites her lip when she sees Finn's surprised expression, and she wonders yet again if she over stepped the invisible lines they have put up between them because this sing-a-long thing is something they used to do over the summer, and Mary Poppins is probably one of the only musicals that she'd get him to sing-a-long with her. But when he returns the grin and stretches out his arms dramatically, she ends up in a fit of giggles yet again.

"_I know what I am. And I am what I do_!" Finn sings dramatically.

"That's not even the words!" Rachel protests between giggles, holding her stomach as she watches him slide of his stool and put his hands on his hips, grinning at her manically, "it doesn't even rhyme!"

"You aren't the only one with awesome writing talent," he says, sending her a wink before he starts up again,

_"Chim chimney Chim chimney__, __Chim Chim Cher-ree."_

"_A sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be_!" Rachel counters, before he can come up with another atrocious rewording, and for effect, she sticks out her tongue at him.

_"Chim chimney Chim chimney__, __Chim Chim cheer-roo"__  
_  
"_Won't you be my friend, So I'll be lucky too_!"

Finn counts back just as quickly, and she's laughing so much her cheeks hurt and she's barely sitting on her stool properly. She looks at him in alarm as he kind of does the dance awkwardly, his long knees reaching his bare chest, and his arm stretched out to her.

"Dance with me," he says with a grin, and before she can decide, he has his arm around her waist and is pulling her to his side. They link arms and she's still giggling as they "skip" along the length of the kitchen and towards the living room. Finn's singing the chorus and she tries to correct him, but he sings "his" version over her each time. At his point, she can't even sing anyway because she's laughing too much. She's on her tip toes and Finn is crouched down low and they alternate each time, Finn still singing his version. That is, until Finn straightens up and his head collides with the slightly open cupboard door and he yelps in pain. She looks at him alarm as he rubs his head in pain.

"_Ow_. Guess that's what you call going out with a bang." he jokes sheepishly as he slides back onto his stool, "Probably should stop anyway, in case we wake up Mom and Burt."

Rachel nods sheepishly, her face still warm from all the laughing as she slides back into her own stool and gingerly picks up her cup of cocoa, taking a sip of it.

"I kinda wish you guys did watch Mary Poppins," Finn says suddenly as he fiddles with a napkin, "This surely beats what I did today."

Rachel bites her lip at his words. She has no doubt he had spent his day with Quinn, seeing as this is the first time she's seen him since she arrived the Hudmel home, as Kurt and Finn so affectionately call it. The fact that Finn has yet to say more just further proves her point and she ignores the slight constriction in her heart as she speaks, her gaze still focused on her cup of cocoa.

"So what did you and Quinn do today?" She asks, trying to sound nonchalant and more like she's making friendly conversation than what she truly wants to know.

When Finn stutters in surprise, her suspicions are confirmed and it's obvious he thought she didn't know about him and Quinn. She finally looks up at him and wonders briefly if he'd just deny it or actually tell her. When he _still_ looks as though he's trying to formulate a sentence, she sighs.

"Quinn told me you guys have been together for while, now." Rachel offers up as an explanation, biting her lip again as he watches her with wide eyes, "I'm assuming you were the one to keep your relationship quiet for the past few weeks, and I don't know if it was to spare my feelings or not. But I just want to say thank you anyway, and um- if you're happy...with her. If you're happy with Quinn, I'm happy for you."

Her entire speech would have seemed plausible if only her emotions hadn't gotten the best of her and a single tear had not escape and is now slowly running down her cheek. She dips her head and shuts her eyes, trying to control her emotions and keep her tears at bay, when she feels the rough skin of Finn's palm on her cheek. He's tilting her head towards him, his finger brushing gently against her wet tears. She looks at him in surprise when he smiles, his hand still cradling her face.

"You are more amazing than anyone I've ever met," he says sincerely, before he pulls his hand away, "And you're going to be even more amazing when you get older and you're gonna take over Broadway and stuff."

Rachel blinks back a new set of tears at his words, "Thank you."

"I never got to tell you last week but, your song was unbelievable and just, you were really awesome Rach." He grins at her ruefully, "Kinda wish I had a better way with words to, you know, tell you how much I liked the song."

Rachel smiles, grabbing his hand that was on the counter and squeezing it briefly before she puts her hands back on her lap. "No that was perfect. Any other way and it would not have been you. And thank you. I don't have to tell you this, but you inspired me to write that song."

Finn nods at her words, "We both messed up when it came to us. You weren't the only one to do some wrong. I hope you know that. One thing happened after another and things kind of just- _spiralled_ out of control, but it was _both_ of us that took part in that. I don't want you blaming yourself for the whole thing. And, I'm sorry for hurting you."

"Oh Finn." She's choking on her tears now, not bothering to hide it as she turns to face him, her nails digging into her bare thighs, "I'm so, _so_ sorry, for _everything,_ with Noah..."

"I know." Finn says quietly, the napkin he was playing with now in shreds, "Rachel, you are better than all of us..."

"Finn..."

"No let me finish," he pleads, "I wanted to tell you this since you sang the song. I know you think you might not be good enough, but honestly, Rachel you're better than all of us. You know what you want and you have goals and stuff. You're gonna make it out of this town and be the star you are always destined to be, and no one, not Glee club, not those idiot jocks that bully us, not even _me_ will keep you back from living your dreams. Never think what you do for this club isn't appreciated 'cause we'd be totally lost without you."

Rachel smiles at him in awe. Every time he says he can't express himself properly, he always contradicts himself and says the right thing in his perfect Finnish way, and she doesn't get why he continues to doubt himself.

"Finn you shouldn't sell yourself short," she tells him quietly. When she sees that he's looking at her, confused, she continues.

"I'm just saying that I believe in you _just_ as much as you believe in me, maybe even more. 'Cause I believe that you can do _whatever_ you set your mind to, I only wish _you_ believed in you just as I do."

"Thanks Rachel. It's nice to know that someone other than my Mom believes in me." Finn says, almost shyly, his cheeks flaming at her praises.

"Always. I'll _always_ believe in you. No matter what." Rachel says earnestly, her own cheeks pinking up at the honest to God truth in her words

"Ditto," he responds just as quickly, and the smiles he sends, further ensures her that he's not just saying those things because she said them but that he really means them.

They exchange another smile, before he drains the last of his cocoa and then makes his way towards the sink. She watches his movements silently, his back hunched over the sink as he washes the cup. She finishes the last of her own cocoa and walks up behind him. He smiles slightly, holding out his hand for the cup. She's about to protest, but he seems to know what she's thinking and simply take the cup from her. She leans against the counter, watching him silently. Her eyes roam over his body, his bare back, and sweats, he's looking like the picture of domestication. She then glances down at her own pyjamas, and her heart kind of aches at the picture they _both_ make, and how long she's imagined _this_ as a part of her future. She looks at him closely, smiling as he turns his head, sending her his lopsided smile before he turns back to what he's doing. In the back of her mind, she can hear Quinn's voice mocking her and telling her how _she_ and Finn will be married and have a life together.

Suddenly, something snaps in her and before she knows what she's doing, she's calling out to him.

"Finn?"

He turns off the tap, putting the cup to dry next to his before he turns to fully face her, but before he even opens his mouth, she takes a step forward, her hand looping at the back of his neck as she pulls him closer to her and attacks his lips with her own.

She can feel his entire body freeze in surprise, but before she can pull back in mortification, she gasps slightly against his lips. His hand grips her hips, the other one lacing through her hair as he kisses her back with as much vigour. She sighs into his mouth as he nips at her bottom lip, his tongue running gently against it each time. She rises on her tip toes, pushing her body against his as she deepens the kiss, her tongue slowly running against his teeth before it meets his own, both of them grunting at the initial contact before they get lost in the sensation.

His lips are soft and exactly how she remembers them. She can still taste the bit of cocoa off his lips, or maybe it's hers she's not sure, but she doesn't want this to end and reality to bite them in the butt. She gasps softly again when she feels his hand tighten on her waist, pulling her even closer. Her nails dig into his bare shoulder and as he pushes against her, she can feel the heat of his body radiating against her skin. She rakes her nails gently against his back as he sighs into her mouth and slightly nips at her top lip. She can't hold back the moan at his actions, and suddenly he moves his hands from her hair to grasp her hips on either side of her waist, and she squeaks slightly when she feels her body lift off the floor, their lips still firmly attached.

Before she can pull back though, he has her sitting on the counter, one of his hands now tangled in her hair and the other grasping her chin, pulling her closer to him, as he eagerly sucks on her lips before quickly slipping his tongue between her teeth. She moans in response, returning his actions just as enthusiastically. Her knees are pressed against his bare stomach, and she finds herself parting her legs so that he can stand between then.

Without breaking their heated kiss, he takes the step forward and suddenly she's gasping as her legs automatically wrap around his waist. She moans loudly as she feels the heat radiating off of him, his sweats not hiding any of his arousal. She knows the flimsy material of her shorts is even worse of a barrier than his sweat pants. He grunts loudly, his thumb grazing her bare thigh a few inches below the hemline of her shorts. She's not even sure when his hands had found their place on her thigh.

"_Rachel_." he all but moans out, and before she can respond, she suddenly feels his entire body freeze as he pulls back, his lips swollen as he pants, out of breath, looking at her in alarm.

She's breathing just as hard as he is, but she never breaks eye contact with him, and notes quickly that despite breaking the kiss, he has yet to step back, nor release his firm grip on her thighs. She can see the look of regret in his eyes, and she knows what's to come but surprisingly, she's not at all heartbroken at what she knows he's going to say.

Because, this is just further proof to her that she _knows_ what they have is not just something of her imagination. She knows now that there is still something between them, and that is all she needs to know.

"_Rachel_...I _can't_... Quinn." Finn pants out, as he loosens his grip on her thigh, but still yet to move his hands.

She's not going to lie, even though she knows he was going to say that, it still hurts to hear, even more so when he takes a step back from her, cutting off all physical contact between them.

"I'm sorry," he says, and she can see the regret written all over his face and she's unsure what _exactly_ he's apologizing for. He's looking at her, clearly waiting for a response.

"I know," she says softly. Despite what she had thought, it doesn't hurt any less that he's with Quinn.

She slides off the counter and runs her fingers through her hair, seeing him watch her every move out of the corner of her eye. She looks up at him with as much determination as she can muster, her heart still hammering against her chest from both their previous activity as well as what she's about to say.

"I'm not apologizing for kissing you," she says bluntly, biting her lip at the look of shock he gives her. She quickly speaks before he can say anything.

"I still love you Finn," she says earnestly, "And that kiss just now, just proved to me that you still feel something for me as well, and I'm just not ready to give up on you _or_ us."

He continues to look at her mutely, so she simply smiles at him and turns to leave the room. But not before she calls out, "Goodnight Finn. Sweet dreams."

* * *

_Please tell me what you guys thought :). _

_Reviews are love ; )_


	2. Chapter 2

_Due to many people requesting a follow up of the last chapter I decided to do this final chapter. I want to thank every one of you for kind words of encouragement I never in a million years expected this story to get such a large response, so thank you so much for the reviews and favourites it meant a lot to me and I hope that this final chapter does not disappoint._

* * *

After that incident in the kitchen almost two months ago, Rachel and Finn both came to a silent agreement to not speak about it, and Rachel took it upon herself _not _to spend the night at the Hudmel house again due to the slight awkwardness between her and Finn. While she still stood on what she said, that she did _not_ regret the kiss, the fact was though that no matter how much it still hurt, Finn _was_ with Quinn and she needed to respect that .

So two months passed with no incidence. Prom came and went, along with the end of Finn and Quinn's relationship. No one knew who ended it, or why. Rachel had some hopes, but Kurt told her he had no clue, so she let the issue rest. Well for now, but technically it wasn't her business anyway. Or at least that's what her rational mind told her. She was trying to ignore the nagging part of her brain that was telling her to speak to Finn, and just wait for him to approach her, because since before Prom, they have gradually gotten back their friendship, and she was not ready to test that just yet, thus the reason she had initiated all her and Kurt's sleepovers at her house, because she didn't trust herself to _not _ go to Finn.

Despite all this, she somehow found herself back in the Hudmel house. Kurt and Blaine were having some issues, so she offered to come to Kurt's house for the night and they had vegan ice cream while they talked it out. Suffice to say, Blaine called two minutes ago and Rachel had decided to give the two boys some privacy. She was about to make her way down the stairs, when she heard the telltale signs off a deep cough coming from Finn's room. She frowned, pausing at the door. Finn had been out of school for the past few days with the flu, and while she had texted him occasionally, maybe not as much as she would have liked, to see how he was doing.

Her curiosity and concern got the best of her, and she slowly tiptoed towards his room. She knocked lightly, but when she didn't get a response, she pushed open the door and walked in. She couldn't help but smile at Finn's supine figure propped up on what seemed to be an army of pillows, the too small brown throw-over that was usually in the living room just barley covering his body, leaving his calves bare. She smiled at him affectionately as she walked up to the foot of the bed, just as he shifted and began to cough.

"Here," she said softly, handing him the glass of water that was on the bedside table, as he sat up slightly and took a sip.

"Hey," she said softly smiling at him, her hand itching to flatten out his unruly bed head.

"Rach, what are you doing here?" Finn asked softly his voice slightly scratchy, as he rubbed his eyes.

"Kurt and I decided to have a little impromptu sleepover," she explained, "He and Blaine were having some issues."

At her words, Finn frowned, sitting up a bit more, "What did the dude do to Kurt?"

Rachel smiled at his instant over-protectiveness, and she placed a hand on his chest pushing him slightly back onto the pillow, giggling at his surprised expression, "Relax, whatever it is Blaine called and they're talking now. "

"Are you sure?" Finn asked stubbornly, as he folded his arms and pouted.

"Positive," Rachel said giggling and squeezing his arm, "How are you feeling?"

"You know, I never liked that dude. He's too short for a boy." Finn commented, "Like one of those hobbits in Lord of the Rings, even his hair suits it."

"_Finn_!" Rachel gasped, "Don't be mean! Besides that's _exactly_ what Santana says about _me_."

Immediately she saw Finns entire demeanour change, " But you're mot hairy and your height suits you, like it's cute. It makes you even cuter than you already are, 'cause you're so tiny and stuff. I like that you're so tiny 'cause..."

Rachel blushed at his words as he trailed off, his ears turning red and she whispered softly finishing his sentence, "It's like you can put me in your pocket and run away with me?"

Finn grined sheepishly, blushing brightly, "You remembered that? It sounds so stupid when you say it. Like I _know_ you can't fit in my pocket, you're not Thumbelina."

"It's not stupid. It's sweet, and I got the meaning behind it," Rachel said with a grin, "And don't be mean about Blaine. We both know you think highly of him. Who's the one that spent all day last weekend playing Grand theft auto with Blaine? So much so that Kurt ended up by _me_."

"Does he tell you _everything?_" Finn asked, and then yawned before he could finish what he was saying.

"Oh what am I _doing_?" Rachel exclaimed in alarm, "You need your rest. I just wanted to know how you were feeling. I'm sorry for taking up your time."

"No Rach, wait," Finn called out, grabbing her hand, "Sit with me for a while?"

Rachel bit her lip as he scooted around to make room for her. She saw that their conversation had already taken a lot out of him, so she knew he'd probably fall asleep soon anyway. She couldn't help but smile back at him when he grinned at her in appreciation. She also didn't realize what she was doing until her hand was already running through his semi damp hair.

"Do you still have a fever?"

Finn smiled as he nuzzled his head into her hand, "No I took something over an hour ago. Don't stop."

"It's not hurting?" she asked unnecessarily, seeing the content expression on his face as he closed his eyes.

"Feels s'good." he murmured, his eyes fluttering open ever so often, "Sing for me?"

She was a little startled by his request but, she was never one to turn down an impromptu singing session especially for Finn, "Any requests?"

"The one from Mary Poppins. I like." he said softly, his finger brushing lightly against the soft material of her pyjamas pants , "Thanks babe."

She gasped at his term of endearment, looking at him closely to see if he even realized what he said, but his eyes fluttered close and he seemed to already be dozing off. She smiled slightly, still in shock, but knowing all too well which song he was talking about and decided to focus on that, rather than Finn's slip of the tongue and reading into something that was probably not there. She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, smiling at the ghost of a smile he got at her touch, and cleared her throat before she begins to softly sing, her fingers slowly running through his hair.

"_Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,_

_Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag._

_"Feed the birds," that's what she cries,_

_While overhead, her birds fill the skies."_

She sang the chorus, knowing that it was the only part of the song he liked anyway. Sure enough, she saw that he was breathing steadily and his hand that was rubbing the material of pyjama pants had now gone limp on her thigh. She smiled affectionately at him as she moved his hand, about to stand, when a voice startled her.

"Rachel?"

Rachel turned around in surprise to see Carole standing by the door, dressed in her robe and pyjamas.

"Mrs. Hummel! I'm sorry I was just checking on him. I knew he was sick these last few days and I wanted to just see him. I didn't wake him up. He just fell asleep actually and..."

"Rachel, breathe." Carole said softly, gesturing for Rachel to come outside, "I was just to do the same. Finn loves that song. Ever since he was young, he'd watch that particular scene over and over. You sounded lovely."

Rachel pinked up at the other woman's praise, "Thank you Mrs. Hummel. He asked me to sit with him and well, I know he only likes the chorus more than anything."

"It's the word 'tuppence'." Carole said, amused, "He thinks it's funny."

Rachel giggled wholeheartedly at that, "Oh. That explains so much."

"I'm going back to bed. Everything okay?" Carole asked, glancing at Kurt's door, then back at Finn's he eyes widening slightly. "Rachel can I ask you something."

"Sure Mrs. Hummel." Rachel said, unsure what the older woman was getting to.

"Are you and Finn back together? Kurt mentioned that Finn and Quinn broke up a while ago, and none of us know why. But if it's true that you and Finn are together, I'm sorry but your sleepovers with Kurt..."

"Oh _no_!" Rachel gasped in surprise, "No! Mrs. Hummel I assure you. Finn and I are not together. Kurt and Blaine had a little tiff and I was merely offering an ear for Kurt to vent, and well, Blaine called earlier and I was giving them some privacy. I honestly just wanted to see how Finn was feeling since I hadn't seen him in school these past few days."

"Okay, I was just making sure." Carole said, squeezing Rachel's shoulders, "I trust you three wouldn't try and manipulate me and Burt like that anyway. Then again, Finn has barely been awake for more than 20 minutes these days."

"You can trust me Mrs. Hummel," Rachel promised. She felt slightly guilty because she and Finn were in this kind of limbo where she hoped they were growing closer, but the truth was she can't exactly depict her and Finn's relationship, and she was unsure how she was supposed to explain it to his mother of all people. Saying they weren't together seemed like the safest option. Then again, she could be totally reading into what wasn't there, and she and Finn were truly _just_ friends no matter how much the idea hurt her heart.

* * *

Three weeks later, and Rachel couldn't believe she was allowing Finn to let her manipulate his mother like this, and breaking the very promise that she gave her word too.

But then again, she didn't expect that during her end of school sleepover with Mercedes and Kurt, she'd find herself in the Hudmel kitchen this time though, with Finn pressing up against the side of fridge, and practically attacking her neck. She wasn't even sure how they got to this point. One minute she came downstairs to get a DVD and ran into Finn eating a midnight snack, they started talking, and the next minute Finn had her up against the refrigerator, not that she was complaining. Right then, her biggest concern was trying not to make too much noise.

She bit her lip and her nails dug into Finn's back, gripping his t-shirt tightly, as he nibbled on her skin. She should care about him leaving a mark, but she hadn't felt this alive since that day _she_ kissed him in this kitchen. Her whole body was buzzing as Finn licked and sucked on her skin, his hot breath tickling her bare neck, as she involuntarily rubbed her lower body against his , her stomach all too aware of how turned on he was. When she pressed herself against him, he released a loud moan into her neck, and her eyes widened in surprise as she tightened her grip on his shoulders.

"_Finn_...uh...you have too..._oh_..._shhh_." she breathed out, giving up on trying to formulate full sentences as he had moved from her neck to biting her earlobe, something he _knew_ was a complete weakness of hers.

She squeaked in surprise when Finn hooked his arm under her and hoisted her up so that they were at eye level. He looked at her with swollen lips, smirking.

"Who's the one making noise now?"

She glared at him, about to tell him off when, Mercedes's voice startled them, "Rachel? Did you find it?"

Rachel and Finn looked at each other in alarm, as he lowered her to the floor. "Found it! I'll be right up! Do you guys want drinks?"

"Rootbeer!" came the immediate response

"Diet!" Kurt chimed in right after.

Rachel rolled her eyes, before looking at Finn, who was still breathing deeply. She bit her lips in apprehension as he had yet to say anything to her, other than the light banter they had in the heat of the moment. She'd been true to her word, waiting of Finn to be the one to come to her. They'd gotten closer over the last two weeks, but never to _this_ extent, and she didn't want to seem too eager. Besides, she _knew_ Finn was very aware of how she felt. She was just waiting for _him_. They did the jump into the relationship thing last time he broke up with Quinn and although the circumstances were completely different this time, she still did not plan on making the same mistake twice. _This_ though, was _nothing_ like what she expected. Welcomed, sure, but he's completely thrown her in a loop and now she didn't know _where_ they stood.

With a heavy heart, she sighed, about to slip past him, when his arm shot out, effectively trapping her between his body and the fridge, much like before but this time, he was not touching her. She looked at him in surprise.

"Finn..."

"You wanna go Breadstix tomorrow?" he asked, smiling at her sheepishly.

She couldn't hide her megawatt grin if she tried, as she nodded at him in response.

"Okay."

"Awesome," Finn said, just as he smoothed his hand down her hair, and brought it on her neck, running his fingers through the locks. They smiled at each other for a moment before he leaned in and pecked her on the nose, at which she immediately giggled. "Sorry about your neck."

She froze at his words, her eyes narrowing at the implication behind it, knowing very well what he was talking about.

"_Finn!_"

He looked at her slightly sheepishly, but not at all remorseful for what he did, shrugging slightly.

"Sorry. I didn't know if the rule would apply this time, seeing as you know, we haven't really talked about us and stuff _yet_."

Rachel's heart warmed at his words and her resolve crumbled, and when she saw him visibly relaxing, she frowned and slapped his shoulder, her frown not exactly reaching her eyes.

"Finn! It will _always_ apply. If I don't have a sweater to cover it up, you can't _do_ that."

Finn simply shrugged again, and suddenly it's like they were back to where they left off, and even though lots of things had changed and they still had stuff to get out into the open, _they _ had essentially fallen back into routine. She's grinning broadly at him, because she just couldn't find it in herself to stay mad, when she's _this_ happy. She got on her tiptoes and gave him a brief kiss, but before she can step back though, he had his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss just as Mercedes voice rang out again.

"_Rachel!_"

"Just waiting on my tea to brew!" she called back.

Finn grinned at her wickedly, about to dip his head back down to meet hers, as she stepped back, and she giggled at his crestfallen expression.

"I really do have to get our drinks."

"I thought you just said that to buy us some time?" Finn almost whined.

"We will talk _tomorrow_," she emphasized, squeezing his hand, pretty sure that she was making her point without having to spell it out and smiled when he sobered up and stepped aside to allow her to pass. Before she could even get to kitchen counter he grabbed her hand, stopping her. She turned to looking at him curiously.

"Promise?"

She felt her heart flutter at his words, his dimpled face smiling and the vulnerability evident in his voice. She smiled, squeezing his hand, going on her tip toes to kiss his cheek, "Promise."

* * *

The fourth time it happened, she wasn't not even going to _pretend_ to be innocent about it, but she _will_ say that she was _not _ the one to suggest going in Finn's room, when they "conveniently_" _ ran into each other in the hallway, soon after Kurt fell asleep.

She walked into the hallway waiting for him to head downstairs, but when he opened his door he was wearing this grin, complete with dimples and all, and she knew without him even saying anything that she was going to agree with whatever plan he had, because those dimples? _So_ her kryptonite.

She protested lightly when he gently tugged her into his room, but other than that, she didn't say a word as he guided her to his bed, both of them sitting on the edge of it. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her as he caressed her cheek, kissing her briefly.

"Hey," he whispered, kissing her forehead before he pulled back, "So how was your spa day?"

Rachel giggled, putting out both of her hands to show him her painted nails, which were glowing slightly in the dimly lit room, "See, its glow in the dark. Kurt found it tacky but I think it's cool."

"It's like stars," Finn said with a grin, taking her small hand in her and holding it up, "See you're glowing."

"Yeah, I thought you would have liked it. And well, I did my toes as well, but not like that," she said, stretching out her feet in front of her and wiggling her purple covered toes.

She yelped in surprise when he hooked his hands through her legs and brought them onto his own, pulling her so that she was practically sitting on his lap.

"You were sitting too far," he said softly, placing a soft kiss on her lips before going to her neck.

"We should not be doing this," she whispered softly, but despite her words, she already had one hand in his hair, and the other looped around his neck to steady herself as he placed butterfly kisses on her neck, making her shiver.

"Why? I can't kiss my girlfriend now?" Finn asked, breathing deeply against her neck. As one of his hands snaked under her tank top, his thumb brushed gently at her waist.

Rachel sighed at his words. She'll never get tired of hearing him refer to her as his girlfriend. She placed her hands on his ches,t pushing him back slightly and trying to ignore his frown for the time being, "You know I'll never turn down your kisses, but we've been officially back together now for over a month. It's time we tell our parents. We were supposed to do that today, but _someone_ bailed."

"I didn't bail!" Finn protested, "Puck and Lauren had a fight and you know how Puck can get, he would have done something stupid. So I had to go. "

Rachel rolled her eyes as she tried to slide off his lap, but he placed his hands on her upper thighs, preventing her from moving, "Somehow I don't see how you two playing however many hours on that new moral comet game solves anything."

"_Mortal_ _ Combat_ babe." Finn corrected, exasperated, "And that _is_ me helping him. If Puck's playing Playstation with me, he wouldn't be getting up to shit at other places."

"You two are such boys." Rachel said in mild exasperation. She ran her fingers through Finn's hair and sighed, "But seriously Finn, I don't like having Kurt lie to your parents about me staying here. I wasn't suppose to sleep over tonight, but we haven't seen each other all week and..."

"Exactly babe," Finn whispered, kissing her cheek and then moving to her neck, "As soon as we tell them all this is done, no more sleepovers for you and Kurt and some _alone_ time for us. Especially since your Dad is on vacation for the month, and they don't know about us yet."

"I don't like keeping this from our parents," Rachel protested, trying to get him to stop, but instead her hand somehow ended up under his t-shirt, "Like we're some big secret."

"Come on, Rach," Finn said tilting her chin towards him so he could look her in the eye, "You know it's _not_ about that. _All_ our friends know, and you agreed with me."

Rachel huffed slightly, "Only 'cause you're too sneaky Finn Hudson."

"We'll never get this kind of freedom if they knew, you and I both know that." Finn countered, moving up her neck as blew lightly on her earlobe, his teeth just barely touching her skin.

"I just don't like deceiving them like this _and_ pulling Kurt into our lies." Rachel said, releasing a low moan, as she shifted her body so that she was straddling Finn's lap, her knees firmly planted on either side of Finn's legs.

"Trust me, Kurt is blackmailing me enough about this." Finn said, his hands now splayed across her butt, "Now can we stop talking about my brother?"

"But Finn," Rachel began to protest again, but it died on her lips as Finn squeezed her butt and pulled her body flush against his.

He kissed her deeply, as he massaged her butt, moaning into her mouth, "Just for a little while?"

"Fine," She answeerd, exasperated, her fingers tangling up in his hair as she pulled him down for another kiss. As she began to move against him slowly, she knew she was going to regret this arrangement, but at that point in time, she was too wrapped up in Finn to care.

* * *

The first time they almost get caught, she swore this would be the last time she ever agreed with Finn and his stupid plans.

It was late, and yet another night where she was sleeping over with Kurt, but halfway through the night, she ended up in Finn's room yet again. Usually after an hour or so of harmless fooling around, she'd head back to Kurt's room, but this was the first time that Finn begged her to just sleep there and get up early before his mother had to get up for her 9 o'clock shift at the hospital.

"Come on Rach," Finn muttered against her ear as he ran his fingers through her long hair, "We can set the alarm and you can go back before any one's even up, not even Kurt would know you were missing."

"I don't know Finn," Rachel said nervously, biting her lip in thought, as Finn's arm that was around her waist began to move slowly up and down her back, every so often playing with the hem of her pyjama top.

"Come on babe," Finn cajoled, moving his fingers soothingly against her now bare back as he'd pushed the t-shirt up a little bit about her waist, "Wouldn't it be nice to wake up in each other's arms?"

Rachel sighed at his words, knowing that he'd convinced her."Okay, just this one time."

Finn grinned in triumphant as he pulled her body on top of his and smiled smugly up at her, "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Just this one time," Rachel warned, leaning up to kiss him softly, moaning as his tongue started to probe her lips,

"I love you so much," Finn muttered against her lips.

"I love you too," Rachel said with a sigh. She froze suddenly, causing Finn to stop and pull back, looking at her alarm.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his hands slowly moving against her arm in a soothing motion.

Rachel shook her head and took a deep breath before she sat up, effectively straddling his lap.

"Rach?" Finn asked, confused, his hands now resting on her thighs.

She looked at him hesitantly for a moment, as she grabbed the hem of her t-shirt. But before he can ask her what she was doing, she pulled her t-shirt off in one swift movement, throwing it next to Finn's own shirt that he lost earlier in the night.

"Rachel," Finn choked, his eyes the size of saucers as he gazed at her half naked from.

She's surprised when his grip on her thighs tightened as he continued to just stare at her. She smiled nervously as she held his much larger hands in her own and slowly guided his hand to her bare breast, much like all those months ago, but instead of the barrier of her dress and bra, she simply felt the callous texture of his hand against her warm skin. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed nervously, his eyes wide as he gave her flesh a tentative squeeze.

"It's okay," she said softly.

They locked eyes for a brief moment before Finn's movements became more sure, and Rachel's eyes rolled back as she released a soft moan when Finn slowly started to massage her bare flesh, tugging at her nipple gently. She arched her back into his touch, her hips slowly rocking against him as the both sighed in unison.

Her eyes widened in surprise when Finn moved his hands and grasped her hips, but before she can protest, he flipped them over so that he was hovering over her. He smirked at her, placing a soft kiss on her nose making her giggle, but her giggles soon turned into soft moans as Finn placed soft kisses down her collarbone and between the valley of her breasts. She ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on it lightly when his wet tongue slowly circled her nipple. She gasped in surprise at the sensation, her entire body buzzing as she arched off the mattress, grinding her hips against his stomach.

"_Finn," _she hissed out, gasping as he applied a little suction to her flesh, his tongue then soothing the spot lightly.

Her body arched when she felt his teeth graze her skin, her entire body buzzing, but her eyes flew open when she suddenly felt the cool air against her bare breast and not her boyfriend's amazing mouth.

"Why did you stop?" she all but whined, not even caring that she was almost at the point of begging.

Finn was hovering above her, smirking. "You didn't hear that noise you just made?"

"_No._" Rachel's eyes widened in horror at his words, her hands covering her face in embarrassment. She pulled them away when she felt him shaking with laughter. She scowled at him, slapping his bare chest, "Get off."

"What? Oh come on Rach, it was hot." Finn protested, not moving an inch, "You're just cute when you're embarrassed."

"It's not _funny_ Finn," Rachel protested but sighed when Finn started peppering kisses all along her chest again, "_Finn."_

There was a sudden knock at Finn's door and before Rachel could react, Finn's entire body collapsed right on top of her. She groaned at the sudden weight and he hissed out quietly, "Sorry Rach."

Rachel's eyes widened in alarm, her heart hammering against her chest. She watched as Finn practically covered her entire body, and turned his head to the door. Before she can tell him don't answer, the door opened slightly, and she bit her lip in horror. That was until she saw the very familiar, pale white hand of Kurt's sticking through the crease between the door and wall.

"Ms. Berry, I neither care nor _want_ to know what state of undress you are in right now, but please get your loud-mouthed behind back in my room _before_ Carole gets up. It's four in the freaking morning! What's the _matter_ with the two of you?"

"_Dude_. " Finn groaned out in exasperation, his voice also lowered, "_Leave_. Mom's shift isn't till 9 _anyway. _ She won't be up for hours. Can you just _go_?"

"Your mother's shift is at _six_, not nine," Kurt said dryly.

"Fuck."

"_Finn_!_"_

"I'll leave you two alone now."

* * *

After that particular near miss, she told Finn she was not under any circumstances playing this game anymore, and they were both going to sit down with their respective parents and inform them of their relationship. They were both lucky _Kurt _was the one to catch them and not one of his parents.

But the very next day ,Finn and Kurt's parent informed them that they were going to Columbus for the weekend for some showcase of cars or something of that sort. Rachel really didn't understand exactly what it was, but it was clear that Mr. Hummel was pretty excited about it. Both Finn and Kurt convinced her to hold off on telling their parents so that she and Finn could spend the weekend together, and Kurt could leave for Dalton for the weekend. His parents were under the impression that Kurt was spending the weekend with Rachel. While Rachel's parents thought she was spending the weekend with Kurt to keep the other boy company. It was all so complicated in Rachel's opinion, and if it weren't for the fact that all _three_ boys practically begged her to go along, she would have never agreed to it.

When they finally _did _get caught, she knew she should have never gone along with Finn's stupid plan, because of _course_ her boyfriend was the brains behind this operation, and this time not only was she _and_ Finn in serious trouble, but also Kurt _and_ Blaine, because of course when she and Finn got caught, Kurt wasn't anywhere to be found because he wasin _Dalton_ and _not _in Lima where he was _supposed_ to be.

It was early Sunday morning when everything blew up in their faces.

She and Finn had spent the weekend relatively quietly, watching movies and having an intimate dinner on Friday night and slowly testing the boundaries of their physical relationship. And while she was not ready to take that final step with Finn, she must admit exploring their boundaries was completely satisfying and _very_ enjoyable. On Saturday night they ended up going on a double date with Kurt and Blaine, at both her and Kurt's insistence, even though she suspected that Finn was hoping to have a repeat of what occurred on both Friday night _and _almost all of Saturday.

In the end, she promised him something in return for going on the double date, and it's safe to say she's never seen her boyfriend agree to go see a musical so quickly. The musical was followed by bowling and it was a lovely way to spend her evening with those three boys. By the time she and Finn got home, they both passed out on his bed, her promise left for Sunday morning.

That was until Sunday morning,g and the first thing she heard was the sound of someone calling out to Finn, someone who was definitely _not_ Kurt and actually _Carole_. Who was then frantically trying to wake Finn up, her voice getting hysterical with each time she said her son's name.

"_Finn Christopher Hudson!_"

Rachel immediately sat up, looking at her boyfriend's mother in horror. Finn's blanket was pooled around her waist, and never in her life had she been so glad that she and Finn were so exhausted the night before and fell right asleep, because if it were _Saturday_ morning, this uncomfortable situation would have been 100 times more mortifying.

Rachel looked at Carole, her cheeks flaming in embarrassment and complete horror at being caught. She looked across at her boyfriend to see that he was still sound asleep, "_Finn!"_

Carole just growled in frustration, and yanked the blanket completely off both Rachel and Finn. Rachel looked at the old woman, frozen in fear. Never has she ever seen Finn's mother look so livid. She looked back at her boyfriend and growled in frustration at his hand that started patting her thigh absently, his eyes still closed.

"Rach, why'd you take the blanket?" he whined sleepily.

Rachel slapped his straying hand, mortified that he even _touched_ her in front of his mother, even if he did not realize it.

"Finn! Get up this instant!" Carole barked loudly.

"Mom, just five more..._Mom!_" Finn all but yelled as he sat up abruptly. He looked at his mother in horror and then back at Rachel.

For the first time in her life, Rachel was speechless she looked at Carole who was looking at the two pointedly, "Mrs. Hummel I'm _so _very sorry. I ..."

But Rachel immediately clamped up as soon as Carole raised her hand to silence her, and then turned to her son, "Finn, I want both of you dressed and in the kitchen in five minutes. Where's your brother? If Rachel's here, is he asleep?"

Rachel and Finn both exchanged nervous glances, then looked back at Carole, both of them wide eyed.

"_Dammit_." Carole snapped, both Rachel and Finn jumping at her tone, and neither of them yet to move off the bed. Carole looked across at Finn with a hard expression, "Call your brother and tell him to get home _now."_

With that said, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door on her way out.

"She _never_ curses,_" _Finn said his, tone filled with a mixture of awe and fright.

Rachel shot up from the bed looking at him, hysterical, "Your mother is going to _kill_ us. If I had any doubt before, she definitely _hates_ me now."

"Rach, she doesn't hate you. She's just a little upset." Finn said calmly.

"Would you get dressed!" Rachel snapped, as she grabbed her dress that was hanging on his chair and laying it on the bed in front of her as she continued, "And that was _not _ just a _little_ upset, that was _livid_. I knew. I _knew_ I should have never agreed to your stupid plan! I've been telling you for _months_ that we should have told our parents that we were together. But _no!_ You _insist_ that keeping it a secret would be good, just so we could get some 'freedom'!"

Rachel growled in frustration as she yanked off her tank top, going to pick up her dress and glared at Finn who was looking at her with wide eyes, "Would you _stop_ staring at me and get dressed! Your mother said five minutes, and already you have spent two of those minutes staring at me!"

"But you're _naked,"_ Finn said, as though that explained it all.

"I'm _topless,_ there is a difference," she snapped at him, pulling her dress over her head and tying the halter straps. She picked up the pillow and threw it at his head, "Dress!"

"Babe you need to chill," Finn said with a huff as he got off the bed and grabbed his t-shirt, pulling it over his head, "Mom is not going to kill us, her paw is more than her bite...wait is that right?"

"Her bark is worse than her bite." Rachel corrected automatically, as she pulled off her shorts and folded them along with her tank top neatly, placing them in her duffle bag. She then looked at him alarm, "Call Kurt! We are all _so _dead."

"Rach, you need to stop saying that. Yeah Mom was mad, but by the time we get downstairs she'd calm down and everything..."

"I will _not _be calm!" Rachel snapped, "I _told_ you that we needed to be upfront with your parents. I _warned _you that it would be _horrendous_ if they found out and now we're pulling Kurt into all our _lies_."

"Dude, Mom and Burt are home...Yeah so get your ass home now." Finn said into his phone. He threw it onto his bed and looked at Rachel, "Rachel, Kurt _chose_ to go to stay with Blaine. We didn't force him to do _anything_. So he's in just as much shit as we are."

Rachel growled, about to retort when Carole's voice rung throughout the house, "Finn! Your five minutes are up!"

"We're coming Mrs. Hummel!" Rachel squeaked back, sending her boyfriend a filthy look as she stormed, off her duffle bag on her shoulder.

As she walked down the stairs, her heart hammered against her chest, the feeling of dread overwhelming her even more as she saw both Carole and Burt standing on opposite sides of the kitchen island, both of them with unreadable expressions.

"Rachel," Burt greeted curtly, "Did Finn call my wayward son?"

Rachel gulped as she nodded her head vigorously, "Yes sir. Kurt is on his way."

"And where is _my _wayward son?" Carole asked dryly, looking behind Rachel at the stairs.

"I thought he was behind me." Rachel said quickly, looking at Finn's parents nervously. She was going to _kill_ her boyfriend, "Finn!"

"I'm coming already Rach!" Finn said, exasperated, as he slowly walked down the stairs, "I wanted to brush my teeth, and really babe, you kinda forgot to do that. That's kind of gross."

"You are _unbelievable_!" Rachel screeched taking her bag and using it to hit him on the shoulder, and growling when Finn easily pulled it from her and held it over her head.

"What the hell? Babe _chill_."

"I will not _chill,_ Finn Hudson!" Rachel snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him, "I told you! I told you from the _minute_ we got back together officially, I told you we should be upfront and honest, but _no_. You _insisted_ this was better off, that it was some secret and we could "totally pull it off". I have news for you Finn, this _isn't_ the CIA and you aren't some secret agent! For _months_ I've been asking you to tell your parents, _my_ parents what was going on and-"

"Hold up." Finn said interrupting her, a frown now etched across his face, "We've only been dating for _one_ month, and don't pin this on me, when we both know that if you really didn't want to keep it a secret, nothing was stopping you from telling _your_ parents. Just admit that you liked the freedom too!"

"I _never_ wanted to keep us a secret!" Rachel yelled back, throwing up her hands to emphasise her point, "I don't know what kind of arrangement you and Quinn had when you got together. But that is not _me_. I do not keep my relationships a secret from people I love. I'm not _ashamed_ of our relationship."

"I am not ashamed of you, dammit!" Finn shouted back, "We both agreed that we wanted to work on us first before we told anyone what was going on. There was so much _shit_ we had to talk about but we had no privacy! _You_ were the one that was complaining about your Dad being home for the month and gave us no kind of privacy to _talk. _My house _always_ has people in it, so that's when I _suggested_ the plan. We _both _agreed that we had things to talk about and work through. The only time we really got to talk was like that anyway, and we were doing that long before Quinn and I even broke up! _You _are just as much in this as I am. So don't blame this on me. _You_ were the one that kissed me that night, when I was still with Quinn, and _you_ were the one that continued to meet me in the kitchen whenever you spent the night, long before _us_ was even an issue. So don't make it look like I'm the one that got us in this whole mess."

"So you're saying all of this is _my_ fault?"

"What? No! I'm saying it's _both_ of our faults!" Finn growled in exasperation, "This is just as much your fault as its mine."

"_I _did not _agree_ to this weekend!" she snapped back, "The three of you _ambushed_ me and this was _after_ we both agreed that one time with Kurt when we got lucky that we were going to stop this nonsense! But instead, you came up with this _brilliant_ idea and got Kurt _and_ Blaine to go along with it and you _knew_ I felt guilty for all the timesKurthelped us lie to our parents, that I _couldn't_ say no to this and that's why you got him and Blaine in on it. This is specifically after I _told_ you I didn't want to do this sneaking around anymore.

From the time we got together, I told you I did not feel comfortable lying to our parents and making your brother, my _bestfriend,_ have to lie for us as well. All for what? Our hormones? We saw the opportunity arise and that's just it? Was our entire relationship this month just a _physical_ thing? I _knew_ I shouldn't have jumped into this thing with you so soon after you broke up with Quinn. It's sophomore year all over again! I think I would have preferred the two week relationship over a physical relationship. Is that what I was to you Finn? Just a rebound from Quinn _again_? "

He looked at her in utter disbelief, as he stuttered incoherently at her question. Rachel took his lack of response as the answer she needed, and bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to hold back her tears as she grabbed her duffle back, but gasped when Finn grabbed on to the other side and yanked her back.

"We are _not_ finished," he said firmly.

"Finn, I really don't need you to let me down nicely, your lack of response says enough." She said, trying her hardest to not let her voice waver but failing terribly at it.

"_No_. You always tell me that when two people are having an argument that they should both get their say or whatever. You spoke, now it's my turn, right?"

"Finn I really don't see..."

"_Right?"_ He cut her off, his expression hard and unreadable. But he was right and she _did_ tell him that, so she nodded her head, waiting for him to get his say.

"Okay, so you always tell me when I'm trying to get my point across that I should always have steps or whatever-"

"Valid arguments and numbering them," she said quietly, never really seeing this determined look on Finn's face before.

"Exactly. Well first off, I want you to know that I'm _not _ashamed of you. That's like _so_ off the mark and probably the stupidest thing you've ever said, and that's saying something, 'cause you're like the smartest person I know." He suddenly took both of her hands in his and looked at her straight in the eyes, "You, Rachel Berry have _never_ been a rebound, and I don't know how many ways I need to say this, but I'll continue to say this until you believe me, but I love you. I'm _in_ love with _you_. All of _this_ was done _because_ I love you, and I want to spend time _with_ you. Our relationship has _never_ been about the physical stuff. I told you. I'll wait forever for you even if it's when we're twenty five and living in New York and after you've won like a million Tonys. "

Rachel couldn't help but smile at his words, not believing that he remembered a conversation they had _months_ ago.

"When we decided we were gonna work on us, we _both_ said we should take our time and talk about all the crap that happened and all the things that we _both_ did, and that's what we've been doing all these months when we've been sneaking around. Most of it was us just sitting right here in this kitchen _talking_ and even after we got together yeah, we kinda fooled around and stuff, but we still talked _a lot,_ right? And yeah you're right, we should have told our parents and stuff like, as soon as we got official or whatever, but I kinda liked that it was just our little secret. Not that I wanted to hide you or anything, but just like something between the both of us, and well Kurt too 'cause he needed to know. And he was totally blackmailing me a crap load with this thing anyway. I just don't want you thinking that all this was like, my way of getting into your pants or something. I respect you and love you too much do to that to you Rach."

"Oh _Finn_," Rachel muttered, her tears falling freely as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly as she buried her face in his chest, "I love you so much. I'm sorry I let my insecurities get the best of me again and I overreacted."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna stop proving to you how much I feel until you aren't secure anymore." Finn said, placing a kiss on her forehead, "Wait did that make sense? I mean..."

Rachel giggled as she pulled back and got on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly, "I know what you meant."

Finn grinned down at her, about to lean in for another kiss, when the sound of someone clearing their throat reminded her that she and Finn were not alone in the kitchen. Rachel looked across at Finn's parents, as she immediately untangled herself from Finn's arms, not sure what to say.

"So I'm glad you two kids were able to sort out your problems," Carole said as she looked between Rachel and her son, her face unreadable, "But from what I gathered, this arrangement has been going on for _weeks_? I'm so disappointed in the two of you. Rachel, you told me you and Finn weren't together..."

"We weren't!" Rachel interrupted, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment, but she _needed_ Carole to know that she did not lie to her. She looked at the other woman, ashamed to see the hurt written all over her face."When you asked me all those weeks ago, Finn and I _weren't_ together. He'd just broken up with Quinn and I _promise_ you, I did not lie about that, but I did promise you that if our status were to ever change, I'd inform you and I'm deeply sorry for keeping that from you."

Carole nodded, her demeanour relaxing somewhat, but not enough for Rachel's comfort, "Yes, and I'm guessing that I'm going to have a serious conversation with your fathers 'cause I suspect they think you were spending your weekend with _Kurt_?"

Rachel looked down at her fingers in shame, "Yes ma'am."

Carole then looked at her son, her face once again hardening. "And _you_ mister, I can't believe you even thought for a _second_ you'd get away with this, and using your brother like that. I'm highly disappointed in you Finn, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to trust you. First the sneaking around with Quinn, and I had to get a call from her _mother,_ telling me she saw you leaving her house at some ungodly hour and _now_ you're sneaking your girlfriend in at night and using your brother as a scapegoat and then the _minute_ Burt and I go away, you plan this whole _weekend?_ I thought I taught you how to treat women better than that."

"What? Mom come on, didn't you hear all the stuff I just told Rachel? I _never_ treat her like that!" Finn protested, "Besides we didn't even have sex!"

"_Finn!" _ Rachel hissed out in embarrassment, not believing he just said that.

"Yeah but you're 17 years old, son."Burt said, speaking for the first time and looking at Finn closely, his own voice not filled with anger but more of disappointment. At this point, Rachel thought she preferred the anger over hearing the disappointment in both Finn's parents' tones "No matter how good your intentions are, when you plan something like this for you and your girlfriend, sometimes your hormones override your emotions and you find yourself in situations you just aren't ready to deal with."

"Burt's right." Carole piped in, "You two are still too young to dictate things like that in your life, which is why you both have parents to set some boundaries and give you some limitations, and well I can't speak for Rachel's parents, but Finn this is very serious and I hope you know that there will be some _severe_ consequences because of this."

"Yeah," Finn mumbled, disgruntled,

"Watch the tone mister," Burt interrupted, his voice still clipped.

"So you're grounded for two months," Carole said with finality

Rachel gasped at the other woman's words, looking at Finn, stricken. That was the _entire_ remaining of their summer vacation!

"Mom, come on! That's insane! That's the whole of summer."

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to have your impromptu sleepovers with your girlfriend for the weekend, and all the other times before that." Burt chimed in.

"It was nice knowing you Rach." Finn said dramatically, pulling her into his arms, much to her surprise.

"Finn!" She hissed out, pushing him away, not feeling comfortable doing that in front of his parents.

"Rach you don't get it. Grounded is means no form of communication. No phone, no laptop no Xbox... No _nothing._"

Rachel gasped again, biting her lip at the thought, not wanting to voice her opinion on those barbaric terms. She couldn't help but sigh when Finn pulled her back into his arms, this time not protesting at all.

"Well I'm sorry guys, but maybe you two should have thought of that _before_ you decided to sneak behind our backs and deceive us like that for so long..." Carole trailed off, looking over Rachel's shoulder

Rachel looked to her left to see Kurt slowly inching his way into the kitchen, his hair a mess, his clothes slightly dishevelled and his bag hanging off his shoulder. Rachel looked at him in disbelief, not believing that while she and Finn were getting chewed out by his parents, Kurt was no doubt making out in his boyfriend's car.

"Oh you're still speaking about this, I'll just give you some privacy and head up to bed," Kurt said politely, heading towards the stairs.

"Hold it right there," Burt said sternly.

Rachel watched as Kurt slowly turned around to face his parents, and she couldn't stop her eyes from widening as she suddenly caught a glimpse of the large red welt the size of _Texas_ on Kurt's neck. She took a glance at Burt and Carole. _One_ look at Burt's narrowed eyes, and Rachel knew right then and there that Kurt was in for a _very_ long day.

Never before had she been _so_ glad to initiate that 'no cover-up, no hickey' rule.

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_Reviews are love ;)_


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